The forest floor was still trembling.
Dust hung heavily in the air.
Leaves drifted down like a rain that had arrived too late.
At the center of the devastation stood Ursa Vitalis, towering like a living mountain.
Its breathing was slow and heavy.
Golden light burned inside its eyes.
Its massive body trembled, struggling against unbearable pain and fury.
Yet the Dominion generator continued to roar.
WHOOOOOMMMMMM!!
Waves of synthetic blue energy swept through the forest like an unnatural plague.
Every time the pulse touched the earth—
the grass withered.
Roots blackened.
Ancient tree trunks cracked from within.
Farhan stared at his laptop, his face draining of color.
"It's getting worse!"
Lila grabbed his arm.
"What now?"
Farhan swallowed hard.
"That machine isn't just provoking the Guardian..."
He pointed at the rapidly falling energy graph.
"...it's draining the Forest Core."
Silence fell.
Sinta slowly turned toward him.
"You mean..."
"They're stealing its energy?"
Farhan nodded.
"If this continues..."
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"...the Core will be completely drained."
Kai scanned the dying forest.
"And once the Core is empty..."
Arga finished the sentence in a hoarse voice.
"...this forest dies."
The words felt colder than the synthetic energy itself.
Arga looked around.
The towering trees were already beginning to wither.
Leaves curled into brittle brown.
Birds dropped lifeless from the branches.
The river in the distance had turned murky.
Everything was dying—
right before his eyes.
And he still couldn't stop it.
His chest tightened.
Pak Rahmat.
The name echoed through his mind.
The man who had led them this whole time.
The man whose eyes had glowed gold.
Who was he... really?
How many secrets was he still hiding?
On the other side of the battlefield, the Dominion Leader stood before the main generator.
Blue lights rotated behind him like the heartbeat of a machine.
He glanced calmly at the readings displayed in his device.
The absorption rate continued to climb.
"Beautiful," he murmured.
The man in the hat frowned.
"This area is becoming unstable, sir."
The Dominion Leader smiled faintly.
"Exactly."
He gestured toward Ursa Vitalis.
"Let the Guardian destroy them."
Then his gaze shifted to the dying forest.
"And let the world witness..."
His eyes turned cold.
"...that nature will always lose to technology."
Bimo spat onto the ground.
"I'm already sick of listening to this guy."
He clutched his aching ribs from the earlier impact.
His hands trembled.
Not because he was weak.
Because he was afraid.
Even so, he stepped forward.
"Give me five minutes."
Dika looked at him.
"For what?"
A crooked grin appeared on Bimo's face.
"To turn that overpriced machine into scrap metal."
Sinta stepped forward.
Her expression remained firm, but her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
She glanced at Arga.
The boy's face had changed.
Not because he feared the monster.
Because he had been betrayed.
She wanted answers.
She wanted to force Pak Rahmat to tell the truth.
But there was no time.
She buried every question inside herself.
"Listen up!"
Everyone looked toward her.
"We have one objective!"
She pointed directly at the generator.
"Destroy that machine!"
"Bimo, Dika, Tono—you hit it from the front!"
"Rani, Nisa, Andra—clear a path!"
"Farhan, Lila—find its weak point!"
"Kai..."
Her eyes lingered on Arga for a brief moment.
"...stay with him."
Kai nodded silently.
Before anyone could move—
the ground ahead split apart.
CRAAAAAAAAACK!!
A gigantic shadow dropped from above.
BOOOOOOM!!
Ursa Vitalis landed directly between them and the generator.
A cloud of dust exploded outward.
Bimo froze.
"...Okay."
"...That thing definitely knows how to make an entrance."
The giant Guardian stood tall.
Its golden eyes blazed with fury.
But this time—
its gaze wasn't fixed on the team.
It was staring at the generator.
Then it roared.
ROOOOOOOOOAR!!
Massive roots burst from beneath the earth, crashing into the Dominion vehicle.
CRAAASH!!
Steel twisted violently.
The armored walls shattered.
Several Dominion soldiers were thrown through the air.
The man in the hat stumbled backward.
"The Guardian is attacking us!"
The Dominion Leader merely laughed softly.
"Excellent."
His eyes drifted toward Arga.
"So it's true..."
"...you can change its choice."
Arga tightened his grip on the MBG lunchbox.
The fifteen glowing rice grains spun faster than ever.
He looked at Ursa Vitalis.
The giant Guardian slowly turned toward him.
For one brief moment—
every sound disappeared.
No explosions.
No engines.
No screams.
Only two pairs of eyes locked onto each other.
And Arga felt it.
Not words.
Not a voice.
An emotion.
Pain.
Rage.
Despair.
And then—
one desperate plea pierced straight through his heart.
Please... stop this.
Arga staggered backward.
Kai caught him before he could fall.
"You heard it?"
Arga gave a slow nod.
Tears nearly slipped from his eyes.
"He doesn't want to kill anyone..."
"...he just wants to be saved."
Sinta heard those words.
For the first time, her voice softened.
"Then..."
She turned toward the generator.
"...we save the forest."
Bimo immediately burst into a run.
"Now that's the speech I wanted to hear!"
Dika charged after him.
Tono vanished into the trees above.
Rani and Nisa rushed forward to clear the path.
The battle erupted once again.
But this time—
their enemy had changed.
They were no longer fighting the Guardian.
They were fighting the source of its suffering.
The Dominion Leader slowly raised the device in his hand.
Click.
The generator screamed.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!
A wave of synthetic blue energy exploded across the battlefield—twice as powerful as before.
Ursa Vitalis cried out in agony.
Towering trees behind it collapsed all at once.
The earth split open.
Farhan stared at the screen—
and his face went completely pale.
"No..."
Lila turned toward him.
"What is it?!"
Farhan took an involuntary step backward.
"The generator is going to explode."
Everyone froze.
"If the Forest Core collides with the synthetic energy..."
His voice cracked.
"...half the forest will be annihilated."
Silence.
Then Pak Rahmat walked past everyone.
Calmly.
Far too calmly.
He stepped straight toward the center of the battlefield.
Sinta stared at him.
"Pak Rahmat...?"
He didn't answer.
Ursa Vitalis turned toward him.
The mountain-sized Guardian watched him—
then slowly lowered its head.
Bimo stopped running.
"...Why is a monster that big showing respect to him?"
The Dominion Leader smiled wider than ever.
"At last..."
He looked at Pak Rahmat as though he were facing a legend.
"...the First Guardian."
Arga froze.
For the second time that day—
his world collapsed.
Pak Rahmat stopped in front of the generator.
His eyes glowed gold once more.
Without turning around, he spoke quietly.
"If you want to survive..."
"...don't interfere with me."